watch me.

our cousin sarah texted me after seeing this on the today show yesterday.
(thanks!)
*be informed.
(you'll have to push pause on the playlist @ the bottom of the page.)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

awareness.

serena williams has been making headlines the past few days
as a result of a pulmonary embolism.
click here to read the article found on the yahoo main page today.
march is national dvt awareness month.
[kinda ironic.]
*be informed.

Emily...like one of my girls!

Emily...you are amazing! I love that you decorated a sock for me...for Natalie..

I'm so grateful that Melanie has such great friends...that are so much a part of me and our family...can't thank you enough! Love YOU!

The Spectrum Article

Talk about shock

A little bird in my department

whom I won't name {Donna}

called the Spectrum and told them about my sock project...

click on the link below and it will take you to the article

published in the paper..

click here to read the article found on the front page of todays newspaper.

here is my disclaimer..

so much was left out that I wish the reporter would have included

I was "miss quoted" on the FRONT page...no less

so when you read it...add the words "while traveling" to the quote

and then it will be correct

wish I could have written the article myself

I don't love being the center of attention

...and I certainly don't love the picture {AGH}

but I love that awareness was put

right.on.the.front.page.

for ALL to see

Patty.. never a truer Friend...

No surprise at all...that my friend..my life long friend, who has loved and supported me through eveything..decorated this adorable sock for me.

Thank you Patty...

I love you...and I love this sock!

Ah...My Family...My GIRLS!

I don't even know where to start with these FAB, AMAZING, ADORABLE...socks..

made by my sister-in-law..and her darling daughters...my neices!

...but OH, they are so much more than those "titles"....

Diane is my sister in every sense of the word {Natalie's Aunt}

...and her girls...are "my" girls...LOVE them as if they were my own.{Natalie's cousins}

..Sarah, so talented and beautiful...if you could hear her sing...simply amazing.

Lindsey...one of a kind, breathtaking, enerjetic, smart..OH, how I love this gal!

...and Allie, OH Allie...can you say, sassy, spitfire, darling beyond description?

... OH my girls...I La-La-LOVE these socks you created for me...

each one reflects each of you...I CHERISH them...

For Mommy Natalie...

What a better tribute than to do this for his Mommy Natalie...

Natalie is smiling..and loving this

And Tiffany...nothing more can be said...than what this sock represents...

And of course...Cutler.. simply...ART!...from these two little hands that are sooo busy!

That's what Friends are for....

To say that I have amazing friends...is an {understatement}! We have been through thick and thin...literally...{we all prefer the "thin" by the way!}

Seriously...

To tell you what my friends mean to me...I can't find the words.

The dictionary doesn't have adjectives to describe them

Suffice it to say we have experienced together

just about every life event possible

We have celebrated everything

from the birth of our children

to watching them grow up,

go to school,

get married

and

have children of their own.

We've traveled together, shopped together,

cooked amazing food for each other,

laughed so hard we've cried together.

some of us work...some of us don't

some of us are single,

some married,

some divorced

We have supported, loved and cried with each other

through cancer,

wayward children,

loss of jobs,

death of parents

and

of children

Is it any wonder then... that my friends would do

anything less than this for me..

Incredible

Amazing

Fabulous

Socks!

After all...

that's what friends are for...

Can't find the words to Thank You my fabulous friends

for supporting my project...

* "Hey!  Here's my sock. I went to Target and they didn't have one plain

white sock so I got the gray striped one and thought, olivia. I know I

didn't know Natalie well but I thought she would have loved olivia. 

I put a pic of Olivia in pjs because I knew 

Natalie loved wearing pajama bottoms."

~staci (my sis-in-law)

My cute little niece, Adi, wanted to make a sock too!

Michelle...

This sock is as FABULOUS as you are Michelle..

OO-LA LA...you know I LOVE fluff!

Always there for me..supporting me

so thankful for you...

~always~

If I had a flower...

This poem say's it all...

Enough said..

Love you

[project] get your sock on . . .

Okay everyone . . .

Stefanie here.

a few posts back my mom introduced our own little

* [project] get your sock on

click here to read her post

Now National DVT Awareness month is March, so technically we still have 5 days to go but I thought I would post these to kind of start the ball rolling.

I had a little girls night out at my house with all my girlfriends and we decorated our socks!

It was so much fun and we all had a really good time designing them.

(can't you tell by their faces?  oh my!  Seriously love you girls!)

I found the socks at good ole Wal-Mart for 2 bucks a pair.

We just used a bag of buttons and my little ribbon collection that I already had at my house.

So what I'm trying to say is that it doesn't have to be a big production by any means.

Find some cute little things you've got around the house, 

fire up the glue gun and start creating!

alright, so you have the whole month of March to make your sock. 

Take a picture of it and e-mail it to my mom.

[her e-mail address is over there on the sidebar]

Tell us who you are and where you're from and 

we'll make sure to post it along with the picture of your sock.

Have fun creating!

Get your Sock ON!

These are beauties aren't they?....they truely are, because in fact, they can save your life

They are "Compressions Stockings" and they can help prevent a DVT from forming,

which in turn can become a 'Pulmonary Embolism"
...the very thing that took Natalie's life.

March is fast approaching, and March is national DVT awareness month.

Besides wanting to share Natalie's life with you ...I hope to bring awareness that will hopefully keep anyone from having to go through what we have gone through.

Did Natalie have compression stockings?....why yes she did....did she wear them?...heck NO! they weren't cute, stylish, or cool...in fact, they were down right ugly and not fun...and all the proding for her to wear them...futile.

So, what do compression stockings do? Well, in my simple non- medical explanation...they squish ..excuse me, "compress" the heck out of your leg, and basically keep your blood flowing from your legs back up to your heart so that a clot can't form.

Whenever you sit for long periods of time without much movement...like traveling in a car or plane...this is when you will want to "get your socks on" to keep that blood flowing so it wont "puddle" up or "clot" and well, no need for me to explain further what can happen.

Do I have compression stockings? Heck YA!...do I wear them? YES I do when I travel for extended periods of time. Do I like them .. seriously? I LOVE them. They actually feel really good on my legs, and after sitting in an airplane for hours...my legs feel great....

Now..cutting to the chase!
I have incredible friends that lift me up, support me, love me, are there for me and would do anything for me ...case in point? I've asked them all to take a simple white sock...and make it FABULOUS...to embellish it, bedazzle it, fancy nancy it!! WHY? to use as a "symbol" if you will.... to remind people to "Get your Sock ON"...and prevent DVT.

You see...I'm going to take all these fancy, fabulous bedazzled socks and hang them on a clothes line and display them at a health fair to bring awareness, that a simple thing like wearing a sock...a "compression sock" can save your life.

I've given them a month to create their fabulous sock...( first week in March to be exact) I will post pictures of them then...you'll want to check back and see them!

Here is where YOU come in....if you would like to embellish a plain white stocking ( you won't want to do anything to a real compression stocking...they aren't cheap, and well, let's face it, it's not about beauty, it's about life)
Take a plain white sock...like a tube sock, and create a masterpiece out of it!...jewel it, ribbon it, embroider on it, quilt it, paint on it...(just don't try to use a magic marker on it..it will bleed and look very bad)....and take a picture of it...email it to me..(my email is right over there on the side bar) ...and I'll post it here on Natalie's blog for everyone to see and say

Ahhhhh, oooooohhh....that is a dang cute SOCK!
And if you want to donate your sock to me...to display along with all of my friends socks...email me and I'll give you an address to send it too. I would LOVE to display it...

So...have a sock?...want to help save a life? create, decorate, send a picture...

"Get your Sock ON!"

I will love you for it....Natalie will know and she will wish that someone out there will wear their socks...even if they aren't cute, or cool or stylish....it won't be futile.

I promise.

Studio 5 DVT Report

Melanie called yesterday and told me that Melanie Bloom, wife of the late David Bloom, had appeared on the show "Studio 5" that is broadcast in Utah.  If you aren't already familiar with his story, David Bloom was an NBC News Correspondent who was one of the "embedded" reporters just outside of  Baghdad when he died from complications of DVT.  Later they also found that he had the blood deficency Factor V Leiden, the same disorder that Natalie carried.  Here is a link to the article on Studio 5's website.  Check it out, it has some good information.   As we like to say...be informed, this is more common than you may realize.

* One more thing-

Check this out.  I remember hearing this read on the news after he died and I was able to find it.  What a great man he must have been.